I Leave Comparisons To History, Claiming Only

I Propose To Fight It Out On This Line If It Takes All Summer.

In 1856...i Preferred The Success Of A Candidate Whose Election Would Prevent Or Postpone Secession, To Seeing The Country Plunged Into A War The End Of Which No Man Could Foretell. With A Democrat Elected By The Unanimous Vote Of The Slave States, There Could Be No Pretext For Secession For Four Years.... I Therefore Voted For James Buchanan As President.

The Cause Of The Great War Of The Rebellion Against The United States Will Have To Be Attributed To Slavery. For Some Years Before The War Began It Was A Trite Saying Among Some Politicians That "a State Half Slave And Half Free Cannot Exist." All Must Become Slave Or All Free, Or The State Will Go Down. I Took No Part Myself In Any Such View Of The Case At The Time, But Since The War Is Over, Reviewing The Whole Question, I Have Come To The Conclusion That The Saying Is Quite True.

Let Us Labor For The Security Of Free Thought, Free Speech, Pure Morals, Unfettered Religious Sentiments, And Equal Rights And Privileges For All Men, Irrespective Of Nationality, Color, Or Religion;.... Leave The Matter Of Religious Teaching To The Family Altar, The Church, And The Private School, Supported Entirely By Private Contribution. Keep Church And State Forever Separate.

I Would Like To Call Your Attention To ... An Evil That, If Allowed To Continue, Will Probably Lead To Great Trouble ... It Is The Accumulation Of Vast Amounts Of Untaxed Church Property.